Sep 1st, 10
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Click here to purchase any or all of our three GLEE karaoke albums!
Glee clubs have been part of American music even before there were recordings. They prospered in rural communities where they gave residents an opportunity to provide their own entertainment. Glee clubs became popular in schools before the 1920s and have long been a way for schools to add music to their environment in an inexpensive and fun way.
Despite this, glee clubs have rarely been portrayed in films or on television, making the success of Glee a happy surprise. The plot of Glee revolves around a high school show choir and, while there is plenty of drama and comedy in its stories, the main point is the music. The songs on Glee include both current pop hits and show tunes. Each week there are production numbers and songs that have something to do with the episode’s plot.
Ever since its pilot aired in May 2009 and especially since it became a regular weekly series the following September, Glee has become a national phenomenon. It is rare to have a television series that features music and singing (not counting a nonfiction show such as American Idol), and few casts of any television shows have gone on a concert tour like those on Glee. Seven million copies of single releases from Glee have been purchased digitally and in 2009 the Glee cast had 25 hit singles on the charts at once, the most by any group since the Beatles in 1964.
Because the performances and music on Glee have been so warmly received by the public, Pocket Songs has released three CDs of songs performed on Glee with arrangements in the style heard on the shows.
Each disc has ten selections that are among the most popular from the series. Vol. 1 (PSCDG 6188) includes “Don’t Stop Believing,” “Bust Your Windows,” “Keep Holding On” and “Somebody To Love.” Vol. 2 (PSCDG 6189) has among its highlights “Jesse’s Girl,” “Another One Bites The Dust,” “I Dreamed A Dream” and “Hello Goodbye.” And Vol. 3 (PSCDG 6193) has such favorites as “Lean On Me,” “Like A Virgin,” “I’ll Stand By You” and “Don’t Rain On My Parade.”
True fans of Glee who wish to form their own glee clubs or at least join in the fun will find this trio of CDs to be quite enjoyable.
– Scott Yanow
Jul 20th, 10
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Click here to purchase this and other Beatles karaoke albums from PocketSongs.com!
On February 1, 2008, NASA celebrated its 50th anniversary by beaming a piece of music into deep space. The song was transmitted at a speed of 186,000 miles per second towards Polaris, the North Star, situated a mere 431 light years from Earth. And what song did they choose to mark this momentous occasion? Was it one of Haydn’s violin concertos, or perhaps Beethoven’s Fifth? No. It was a gentle acoustic ballad written by a working class sailor’s son from Liverpool, England. The composer’s name was John Lennon and the song was called (appropriately enough) “Across The Universe.”
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Jul 16th, 10
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Click here to purchase this album on PocketSongs.com!
Jimmy Buffett isn’t exactly famous for working hard, so it’s not terribly surprising that the sessions for his most recent album, Buffet Hotel, often found the singer cutting vocal tracks in the early morning hours, with more than a few glasses of red wine in his belly. “We got back to doing things like we did in the old days,” Buffett told Billboard magazine. “I’d get a little buzz on red wine, get in that mood, and then I’d send ‘em to [my producers] and say, ‘Alright, I know they were midnight. You got red wine vocals there. You can throw ‘em away or tell me what you think,’ and they’d go, ‘Do more of those!”
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Jul 6th, 10
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Click here to purchase from PocketSongs.com!
Nobody sings like Frank Sinatra these days, but Michael Bublé is about as close as you can get! The talented Canadian crooner has been delighting audiences the world over since releasing his self-titled debut in 2003. Loaded with timeless jazz and pop standards like Summer Wind and The Way You Look Tonight, the record helped introduce young listeners to the Great American Songbook. The album earned him a Juno Award for Best New Talent and a nomination for Album of the Year.
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Jul 6th, 10
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Click here to purchase from PocketSongs.com!
Pocket Songs is proud to present this great new collection of songs from the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next To Normal! The story of a dysfunctional suburban family, Next To Normal was written by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt. In addition to the Pulitzer, the production won three Tony Awards (out of eleven nominations), including Best Original Score. It also set a Broadway record in January 2010 with a box office gross of over $550,000 in just one week. It continues a successful run at The Booth Theatre.
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Jul 5th, 10
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Click here to purchase from MusicMinusOne.com!
If German Romantic Pianism had a First Lady, that person would have to be Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896). Robert Schumann, nine years her elder, met her at age eight in 1828, and their friendship eventually blossomed into love. Despite the constant objection of her father, the pair finally married in 1840.
A virtuoso pianist who was admired across Europe even as a young girl, Clara also composed many pieces during her youthful career. Women were not exactly considered up to the task of serious composition in the early and middle 19th century, but Clara Wieck was a standout even as a youth, and she had at her side the added muscle of one of the most important composers of the time. She began her piano concerto in early 1833. Though she gave a premiere performance in November 1835 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn, she continued to revise the work and ultimately finished it in 1836, at the grand age of 17! Robert Schumann did assist to some extent, mainly in areas of orchestration (we know from a manuscript that he largely orchestrated the third movement).
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Jul 2nd, 10
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Click here to purchase on Pocket Songs.com!
It no doubt takes a great deal of talent to win American Idol, but not all Idol winners are created equal. If there’s one thing Fox’s hit series has taught us, it’s that it takes more than just a great voice to be a star. Some of the show’s winners were built to last (like the wonderful Ms. Kelly Clarkson), but others quickly faded away (paging Mr. Ruben Studdard).
Carrie Underwood definitely falls into the first category. The pretty Oklahoman was the winner of American Idol’s fourth season, and she quickly established herself as a star with staying power. She has won multiple Grammy awards, sold millions of albums, been inducted into the Grand Old Opry, and was showered with prestigious awards from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association.
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Jul 1st, 10
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Click here to purchase from PocketSongs.com!
If you frequented the music clubs of Manhattan’s Lower East side around 2006 or 2007, you may have come across a talented young group with a spunky lead singer called The Stefani Germanotta Band. Their songs were catchy and well-written, and the skinny, big-eyed girl at the front had tons of charisma and a good set of pipes. But the same could be said of many of the gifted young bands who ply their craft around New York’s famed Greenwich Village. You probably wouldn’t have guessed that the sassy young singer for whom the band was named would, in two years’ time, become the biggest pop star in the world.
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Jun 22nd, 10
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Many pianists know Edward MacDowell from his shorter solo piano works, such as “To a Wild Rose” from his album Woodland Sketches. His work drew strongly upon his studies in Europe, during which period he learned from and came into contact with powerhouse composers such as Franz Liszt, Edvard Grieg, Joachim Raff, and many others who were admirers of his work and talent. He wrote in a style that often combined European Romanticism and elements of folk song, with a uniquely American bent.
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Jun 16th, 10
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Gary Shocker is the most published flute composer of our time. His music has been praised internationally, and he is recognized for having written some of the most exciting modern compositions for flute, exploring a variety of themes and ensemble-settings. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a virtuoso player as well!
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